"The Tattoo History Source Book" is an exhaustingly thorough, lavishly illustrated collection of historical records of tattooing throughout the world, from ancient times to the present. Collected together in one place, for the first time, are texts by explorers, journalists, physicians, psychiatrists, anthropologists, scholars, novelists, criminologists, and tattoo artists. A brief essay by Gilbert sets each chapter in an historical context. Topics covered include the first written records of tattooing by Greek and Roman authors; the dispersal of tattoo designs and techniques throughout Polynesia; the discovery of Polynesian tattooing by European explorers; Japanese tattooing; the first 19th-century European and American tattoo artists; tattooed British royalty; the invention of the tattooing machine; and tattooing in the circus. The anthology concludes with essays by four prominent contemporary tattoo artists: Tricia Allen, Chuck Eldridge, Lyle Tuttle, and Don Ed Hardy. The references at the end of each section will provide an introduction to the extensive literature that has been inspired by the ancient-but-neglected art of tattooing. Because of its broad historical context, "The Tattoo History Source Book" will be of interest to the general reader as well as art historians, tattoo fans, neurasthenics, hebephrenics, and cyclothemics.
Category: Art

An exhaustingly thorough, lavishly illustrated collection of historical records of tattooing throughout the world, from ancient times to the present. Collected together in one place for the first time are texts by explorers, journalists, physicians, psychiatrists, anthropologists, scholars, novelists, criminologists and tattoo artists. A brief essay by Gilbert sets each chapter in an historical context. Includes references at the end of each section. The author is a medical illustrator and freelance writer with a lifelong interest in tattooing.
Category: Art

An ethnography of the tattoo community, tracing the practice’s transformation from a mostly male, working-class phenomenon to one adapted and propagated by a more middle-class movement in the period from the 1970s to the present.
Category: Art

Lavishly presented and illustrated, this book explores the bold, colourful and enduring popular designs that were perfected across two World Wars, explains their history, symbolism and social significance, and delves into the colourful lives of the era's most famous practitioners.
Category: Tattooing

This pioneering 1933 survey approaches body art from a variety of angles, including artistic, semiotic, psychological, sociological, and cultural perspectives. One of the first studies to analyze the subconscious motivations and erotic implications behind tattooing, it examines overt and subliminal messages of romance, patriotism, and religious fervor. 27 illustrations.
Category: Social Science

"In this provocative work full of intriguing female characters from tattoo history, Margot Mifflin makes a persuasive case for the tattooed woman as an emblem of female self-expression." —Susan Faludi Bodies of Subversion is the first history of women’s tattoo art, providing a fascinating excursion to a subculture that dates back into the nineteenth-century and includes many never-before-seen photos of tattooed women from the last century. Author Margot Mifflin notes that women’s interest in tattoos surged in the suffragist 20s and the feminist 70s. She chronicles: * Breast cancer survivors of the 90s who tattoo their mastectomy scars as an alternative to reconstructive surgery or prosthetics. * The parallel rise of tattooing and cosmetic surgery during the 80s when women tattooists became soul doctors to a nation afflicted with body anxieties. * Maud Wagner, the first known woman tattooist, who in 1904 traded a date with her tattooist husband-to-be for an apprenticeship. * Victorian society women who wore tattoos as custom couture, including Winston Churchill’s mother, who wore a serpent on her wrist. * Nineteeth-century sideshow attractions who created fantastic abduction tales in which they claimed to have been forcibly tattooed. “In Bodies of Subversion, Margot Mifflin insightfully chronicles the saga of skin as signage. Through compelling anecdotes and cleverly astute analysis, she shows and tells us new histories about women, tattoos, public pictures, and private parts. It’s an indelible account of an indelible piece of cultural history.” —Barbara Kruger, artist
Category: Art

A thorough and absorbing discussion of tattooing from both historical and cultural perspectives. The irreversible tattoo has traditionally been seen as alien to Western culture and people with tattoos have been, and arguably still are, regarded as outsiders. Greek vases from the 4th century BC portrayed tattooed enemies, much as 19th-century historians and artists pictured painted Picts. The tradition of marking criminals or victims with tattoos also originated in the classical world. Romans commonly tattooed Christians before punishment but this popularised the tattoo as a symbol of martyrdom amongst the Christian community. Some medieval Christians continued the practice by using Pilgrim tattoos to announce their faith just as modern soldiers mark themselves with regiment tattoos. This collection of fourteen essays concludes with a discussion of the West's enthusiasm and fascination following the discovery of North America's tattooed tribes and reasons for the modern revival in tattoos across America and Europe.
Category: Tattooing